by Paige Tyler
“Your ears must have been ringing,” Aaron said, giving Sosie a smile. “We were just talking about you.”
“You were?” Sosie reached up to touch her ears under her hair. “Why would that make my ears ring?”
When the two men gave him an odd look, Derek chuckled as he sat down beside her. “Sosie isn’t from around here, so she’s not familiar with a lot of our expressions.”
“That’s okay. Neither is Tony.” Aaron gave the younger detective a grin. “Where are you from?”
Sosie hesitated a moment before answering. “Up north.”
“Up north, huh? What brought you down to the Big Apple?”
Derek saw Sosie’s brow furrow in obvious confusion. “Aaron means New York City.”
“Oh.” She shrugged. “I needed a change of scenery.”
Tony eyed the bag in her hand. “It was nice of you to bring Derek something to eat. Don’t suppose you have extra in there, do you?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. Derek mentioned he’d be working with the two of you and I wanted to make sure I brought enough.”
Opening the bag, she reached inside and pulled out a huge container of pasta with red sauce as well as another equally large bowl of green salad. Derek’s eyes went wide when he saw how much food she’d actually brought. Even with the four of them, it was still a lot.
“It’s whole grain pasta,” she said as she handed each of them a plastic plate filled with food. “I’ve heard it’s very healthy.”
Derek dug into the pasta right away. “This is good. Where’d you get it?”
“I made it.” She gave him one of her dazzling smiles. “I saw the recipe on the cooking channel, so I figured I’d give it a try. I’m glad you like it.”
Derek was impressed. He’d naturally thought she’d stopped at a restaurant and gotten take-out. After the bread pudding she’d made for breakfast the other day, he honestly hadn’t thought she could cook.
“Like it?” Tony loaded up his fork again. “This is some of the best pasta I’ve ever eaten.” He gave a Sosie a wink. “I think I might be in love.”
Derek scowled at him, then looked at Sosie. “He’s kidding.”
Sosie laughed, a blush coloring her cheeks.
As they ate, Derek had to admit he was glad Sosie had shown up, even if it was a little unconventional. Not only was the food delicious, but now he wouldn’t have to wait the whole day to see her. That was definitely worth breaking the rules for. Of course, there was a flip side to that, too. After being with her in the close confines of the truck, he was probably going to have a raging hard-on for the rest of the day.
Man, what he wouldn’t do for a few minutes alone with her. Unfortunately, he couldn’t come out and ask the other two detectives to take a hike.
Aaron must have been able to read his mind because after they’d finished eating, he announced he and Tony were going to head over to the bodega across the street to use the facilities.
Tony mustn’t have gotten the hint because he leaned back in his chair. “Nah, I’m good.”
“No, you’re not,” Aaron said, giving him a meaningful look. “You have to go. Come on.”
Tony frowned, but then his gaze went from Derek to Sosie and back again, understanding dawning on his face. He got to his feet. “Right. I do have to go. Nice seeing you, Sosie. Thanks again for the food. Feel free to bring more any time.”
At the door, Aaron turned. “We’ll be gone for about twenty minutes or so.”
Sosie frowned. “Is Aaron okay?”
“Yeah,” Derek said. “Why do you ask?”
“Because twenty minutes is a long time for someone to use the facilities.”
Derek chuckled. “I don’t think he really has to use the facilities. He wanted to give us some privacy.”
“Oh.” Her eyes lit up. “Oh! Well, that was certainly nice of him.”
“I’ll say.” Derek leaned in close to cover her mouth with his. “I wanted to do that since you got here.”
“You have?” She blinked up at him in surprise. “I was afraid you were mad that I came.”
He gently brushed her hair back from her cheek. “I could never be mad at you.”
“Well, in that case…”
Getting up, Sosie came over to stand between his spread legs. Derek wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him when she took his face between her hands and kissed him. Her lips were soft and sweet as they moved over his, her tongue teasing as it intertwined with his.
Now that he had a taste, he knew one kiss was never going to be enough to last him until he got home and could make love to her.
But they couldn’t do it right there in the truck.
Or could they?
Before he could answer that question, Sosie lifted her head and pulled away from him. He tried to use the time to clear his head so he could start thinking with that instead of his dick, but then she kneeled down in front of him and he suddenly couldn’t think at all.
Tugging open his belt, she slowly unzipped his khakis, then shoved down his boxer briefs enough to free his hard cock. Giving him a seductive look, she wrapped her hand around the base, then leaned forward to slowly run her tongue up the entire length before taking the head in her mouth.
Derek groaned as her long, silky hair fell forward to brush his thighs. Her mouth was warm and wet as she moved up and down on him, and he groaned again as she gently cupped his balls in her other hand and lightly massaged them. Damn, she was good at giving a blowjob.
He slid his hand into her hair, cupping the back of her head. “Oh yeah, baby. That’s it.”
Sosie moaned and swirled her talented, little tongue over the tip of his shaft before going down on him again. She took him deeper each time she repeated the move until the head of his penis was finally touching the back of her throat.
Then she swallowed.
Derek sucked in a breath. Daaaaaaammnn! He’d never met a woman who could do that. Sure he was going to blow right then, he tightened his hand in her hair.
She moved her mouth back up his cock, swirling her tongue around the head before taking him deep again.
“God, that feels incredible,” he rasped. “Don’t stop.”
Sosie wrapped her hand more firmly around the base of his shaft and continued to bob her head up and down, sometimes swirling her tongue over the tip, other times deep-throating him, keeping him on edge all the while but not in danger of exploding. Unable to help himself, Derek gently thrust his hips in time with her movements, pushing his cock down her throat.
He wanted to hold back, wanted to make it last the rest of the afternoon, but what Sosie was doing felt too incredible for that and before he knew it, he was shooting a load of hot cum into her mouth. She moaned around his cock, swallowing all of his cream, then carefully licking him clean until she got every last bit. When she was done, she sat back on her heels and ran her tongue over her lips.
Buttoning his pants, he bent over to kiss her long and hard on the mouth. “God, you’re amazing.”
She smiled up at him. “You’re pretty amazing yourself.”
Derek chuckled and would have kissed her again, but a knock on the door of the truck interrupted them.
“We’re back,” Aaron called from outside.
Had it been twenty minutes already? Damn. He’d wanted to return the favor.
Derek stood up and helped Sosie to her feet, then ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat.
“Come on in,” he told the men.
Derek waited until Aaron and Tony had climbed in, then walked Sosie to the door. Behind him, Aaron turned up the sound on the audio and Saldino’s voice filled the truck.
“…meet at the warehouse down by the docks tomorrow night and finish that damn punk once and for all. Nobody steals from Sammy Saldino and lives to tell about it.”
Sosie’s eyes went wide. “Did he mean what I think he did?”
“Yeah.” Derek couldn’t believe their good fortune. He looked
over at Aaron and Tony. Both men were grinning from ear to ear.
“Sammy Saldino finally screwed up and let something slip, which means we’re going to be able to nail the bastard once and for all.”
“That’s good, right?” Sosie asked.
Derek turned back to her. “It’s better than good. It’s freaking fantastic, and it’s all because of you.”
“Me?”
He reached out to cup her face, heedless of the two men in the truck with them. “Yeah. We’ve been sitting on Saldino for years and haven’t gotten anything, but you come by, and bam, success. You’re one very beautiful good luck charm.”
Chapter Eight
Derek wanted to know if Sosie could find her way home okay or whether she needed a cab, but she told him she could get there fine. She was so happy, she could have floated all the way back to the apartment.
She’d thought the plan Tracee and Linda had come up with to get Derek to fall in love with her had seemed silly at first, but maybe they were on to something. Even though she and Derek had only recently met, the more time she spent in New York with him, the more it felt as if this was the place she was meant to be—and Derek the man she was meant to be with. She wasn’t sure if she believed in love at first sight, but she was certainly falling for the gorgeous detective in a big way, and it seemed as if he was falling hard for her, too.
But could she give up her elfin heritage and everything that went with it so easily, though? Working in Santa’s workshops, the Christmas spirit, her elfin friends? To her surprise, the answer was a resounding yes. For the right guy, she’d leave it all behind without hesitation. Besides, she’d already been transferring to the South Pole anyway. Since her mom had retired and had moved away, there was nothing to keep her tied to either pole.
She smiled to herself as she strolled down the sidewalk back to Derek’s apartment. Or should she think of it as their apartment? Probably not yet. That would be presumptuous. He obviously liked her, but that was a long way from being in love with her, and even further away from him inviting her to live with him.
They were headed down the right path, though, she was sure of it. There was this chemistry between them she’d never experienced with anyone else. That had to be a good sign, right? And then there was the sexual spark. That was hugely important, she imagined. According to Tracee and Linda, most romantic relationships among the BPs were based on nothing more than that. If it worked for them, it would work for her.
Her smile faded. She wanted her relationship with Derek to be based on more than sex. She couldn’t believe she was saying that—not after all the hot, sweaty nights of fantasies she’d had back home in her tiny bed up in the North Pole. But she wanted something more with Derek. She wanted a soul mate, a life partner.
Surely that could happen between an elf girl and a big person.
Before it did, however, she was going to have to be honest with him. There was no way she could hope to have a real, meaningful relationship with Derek if she started everything out with a lie. He needed to know she was an elf.
How could she tell him, though? BPs didn’t believe in things like elves and Santa Claus. Derek would only think she was making it up. Worse, he’d think she was crazy. And in the BP world, that meant they’d lock her up.
She caught her lower lip between her teeth and chewed on it thoughtfully. Maybe it’d be better to talk to Tracee and Linda about it first. As much as she wanted to confide in Derek, it would be easier to share her secret with the other women first and ask for their advice. They hadn’t steered her wrong yet.
Sosie intended to go directly up to her friends’ place, but when she got back to the apartment building, she ran into Ben and ended up helping him with a few repairs around the place, first fixing a leaky toilet, then replacing a light switch in one of the apartments on the second floor.
“You’re a better handyman than I am,” Ben said as they finished up. “I don’t think there’s anything you can’t fix.”
Sosie felt her face color under his approving, fatherly gaze. “I don’t know about that.”
“Well, I do.” He regarded her thoughtfully. “You know, there’s always been an extra position for a maintenance person here in the building, but I’ve never been able to find a person who was qualified for the job since you have to be a jack-of-all-trades. The pay isn’t great, but it’s not horrible, either. There’s a free apartment that comes with the position, too, but for some reason I don’t think you’ll need that,” he added with a smile. “Are you interested?”
“Very interested.”
“I was hoping you’d say that. We’ll need to do up all the usual paperwork to make it official, so I’ll need your social security number and immigration papers.”
Sosie didn’t answer. She had no clue what those things were, but she knew she didn’t have them. “Um, I don’t have them yet.”
He waved a hand dismissively. “No big deal. You can give them to me when you get them. I’ll pay you under the table until then, if that’s okay with you?”
She nodded. She’d be okay with getting paid on top of the table, but if Ben felt better passing it to her underneath, that was fine, too. In fact, it was more than fine. She couldn’t believe it. First, she’d found a place to stay and a boyfriend, then some girlfriends to go window shopping with. Now she’d found a job, too. Taking a chance and walking out of that broken-down transport sled had been the best move of her life.
She was so ecstatic, she barely heard Ben ask if she could run down to the local electronics store to pick up the parts she’d need to fix the apartment’s central air unit. She’d only had to look at it for a few minutes to figure out that most of the important parts of the microcomputer that controlled the massive unit were fried. Ben had groaned, saying the company that built the unit had said the same thing, but claimed it would take thousands of dollars to replace the entire unit. Sosie was confident she could rebuild the unit herself with a good collection of computer chips and some basic electronic supplies—something Ben had been relieved to hear.
“This should cover anything you need,” Ben said, handing her two-hundred dollars.
She stared down at the money. “Surely it shouldn’t take this much.”
“Probably not, but I want to make sure you have enough. You can keep whatever you don’t spend.”
She looked at him in surprise. “Are you sure?”
“Consider it an advance on your pay.”
The electronics store was about a dozen blocks from the apartment building and though Sosie could have taken a cab now that she had money, she preferred to walk. She did a fairly good job of following the directions Ben gave her, only getting confused a few times. She was just turning down the correct street when she ran right into someone coming from the opposite direction.
She automatically opened her mouth to apologize only to gasp when she realized the other person was a fellow elf. And not any elf, either, but the chief of elfin security—Mendike.
She’d never met the other elf personally, but she’d heard horror stories about what a grinch he was, always hassling worker elves like her about missing parts and equipment up at the workshops, accusing them of being petty criminals and saying they were ripping off Santa. When she’d thought Elf Central would send out a rescue party, she hadn’t expected Mendike to come after her personally. Figgy, she should have known some fly was bound to show up in the Christmas pudding sooner or later.
He glared up at her with beady, accusing eyes. “Sosie, I’ve been looking for you everywhere, do you know that? The transport crew didn’t figure out you were missing until they landed in the South Pole. First, the idiots tried to cover it up because they figured they would get in trouble. Then Elf Central spent a day trying to figure out which bureau had responsibility for tracking you down, North or South.”
“Looks like the North won,” Sosie muttered. “Lucky me.”
“Yes, you are lucky.” Mendike squared his shoulders and drew himself up t
o his full height, which was still a good foot less than her. “Now that I’ve finally found you, we need to get going. I have my sled on the top of a building near here. It’s cloaked, so no one will probably see it, but I’d rather not take the chance in broad daylight.”
He didn’t wait for an answer, but turned on his heel and started walking. He didn’t realize she wasn’t following him until he was halfway down the block. When he finally did, he marched back over to her.
“Why the fig are you still standing there?” he demanded.
That first night, she would have been thrilled to see another elf had come to take her home—even a grinch like Mendike—but things had changed since then. She didn’t want to leave anymore and no one was going to force her to go. Especially not Mendike. She was a free elf.
She returned his glare with one of her own. “I’m not leaving.”
He stared up at her as if unable to believe what he’d heard. Then his eyes narrowed. He swore under his breath. “Up to this point everyone has been content to consider this a simple mistake, Sosie. You wandered away from the transport sled and it took off without you. But if I call this in as a runaway, then things will go very differently for you.”
Sosie was sure Mendike thought he came off as menacing and scary to his fellow elves. Maybe he did. But his threats didn’t have the same effect on her as they would on another elf. Being a foot taller than he was probably had something to do with that. Besides, they were on a sidewalk full of people. He wasn’t going to try anything here.
She put her hands on her hips. “What are you going to do, tell Santa that I’ve been a bad girl so he’ll put me on his naughty list?”
Mendike’s mouth tightened. “Trust me, girl. We have ways of dealing with runaways, and you aren’t going to like them.”
Sosie bent over to look him in the eye. “You don’t scare me, Mendike. Now run on back to the North Pole and tell Santa that I quit. He can keep my last check, including the Christmas overtime.”
Mendike regarded her in silence, then shrugged. “If that’s the way you want to play it, okay by me. But you’ll be sorry, Sosie, mark my words.”
